I always liked the personality of Salvador Dali. He can always be distinguished by his refined style, unusual vision of the world and versatility of his art. But for me, first of all he is a mystery, his surreal contemporary art is also a mystery for me. This even makes it more interesting. As you get older, you start to appreciate the things that need an instruction to be understood. When you know more information about Dali, his vision of the world and his backstory, you start to understand his surreal world.

Dali believed that art must be a component of all the aspects of our lives. He himself was a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, fashion and furniture designer. He was a friend and has been collaborating with popular artists as Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Sigmund Freud, Jean Michel Frank and Alfred Hitchcock. After meeting each of this individuals, he revealed new creative fields in his art. Dali considered that there are no accidental meetings in our lives. When you know his life story, it is hard to not believe in that.

During my recent visit to ESPACE DALI PARIS  museum in Montmartre, I noticed the recurring symbols in every piece of his art. For example, the open boxes on the body of a sculpted woman, which are also illustrated on many of his other paintings. It depicts the memory and essence of the human. The mystery of hidden secrets – a Freud concept.
Also the snails. Dali was intrigued by the geometrical shapes of their shells. He associated them with a human head, especially with the head of Sigmund  Freud. There are also many elephants in his art, surreal elephants. They always have long legs, and they have obelisks of power and domination on their backs. The massive weight maintained by the week legs create an impression of weightlessness.
Dali had a special attitude to bread, he used it in very unusual ways in his creations. VENUS DE MILO is the woman pictured in Dali’s masterpieces. The painter invented a myth that when he was a child he recreated a small sculpture similar to the sculpture VENUS DE MILO, that was in the dining room of his family. During many years of his creative work, he recreated her image in different surreal shapes.
Dali often used wooden walking sticks in his lifetime, as well as in his work. The sculpture “Surrealist Eyes”, one of the sculptures VENUS DE MILO, and the lamp he created – are both based on some kind of walking sticks. According to the  Cartesian philosophy in which he believed, each soft structure needs to be supported.
All of these are just small examples and details of the work of this great figure. Looking at his art, you understand that the inner worlds of some of us are deep as the sea. This is one of my first, but definitely not last swim in the sea of Dali.

Photo: Zina Esepciuc
Museum: Espace Dali